Can't Keep From Falling In Love
by Maximum Rose Ride
Summary: After an incident in 8th grade Max has no friends and is an out cast but she doesn't mind that. Everyone she has ever gotten close to left her in the dirt. Fang is the most popular guy in school but he has his heart set on breaking down the walls Max built up over the years. Will Fang give up his social status for Max when their friendship blossoms into something more?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So Idk if any of you have read my stories such as You have got to be kidding and I'll wait an eternity for you. I was not proud of the way i ended YHGTBK and i am thinking of rewriting IWAEFY cause i dont like the way i am writing it atm. There may be some OOC-ness in a few of the characters and props to you if you can guess what this story is very loosely based off of!**

A small stream of golden light made its way past my curtains, not giving off enough light to brighten my dark room but enough for it to shine in my eyes annoyingly, causing me to groan. I rolled over onto my back and slung my arm over my eyes, hoping to block out the light and drift back to sleep. All my hopes of a minute more of sleep were shattered when a shaggy mop of black hair jumped onto my bed.

"Total..." I whined when he started to attack my face with his slobbery tongue. He let out a playful yip and jumped off my bed and ran in a few circles before running out the door when he heard the sound of his breakfast kibble landing in his metal bowl. I sighed and slung my blankets of my body and kicked my legs off to the side of the bed. I involuntarily shivered at the sudden temperature difference between my warm bed and the cool air of my room.

I walked to my closet and pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and a black and red long sleeved girls madras shirt. I walked to my vanity and pulled a brush from the drawer and pulled it through my bleach blonde hair and pulled it to the side to braid it. I don't really know where my bleach blonde hair came from my mom's hair is a dark brunette. I looked at my eyes in my reflection. I do know where I got my brown eyes from... I shook my head, expelling the thought from my head and went down the hall and entered the kitchen of the apartment my mom and I lived in.

She, my mother, sat at the table with a waffle on her plate. A plate with three waffles and a butt load of syrup sat across from her. I sat down after saying "Good morning." I scarfed then down, pulled on a pair of black toms and my back pack.

"Goodbye Mom! Love you!" I called behind me before I left the house. I adjusted my backpack strap on my shoulder as I walked down the concrete sidewalk. As I was walking a few girls that were walking beside me started to point at me and laugh. I didn't really care. I didn't have anyone to impress or anyone to stand up for me in these situations, I hadn't since eighth grade...When my father died. I shut down so to speak. I ignored the people I thought were my friends. Soon after that rumors started spreading in school. I became the 'freak' without a father. I became the quiet and reserved girl that everyone assumed self harmed...but I didn't. It had been that way since eighth grade and it still is even now, in senor year. My thoughts were interrupted with the noise of the community bus' doors opening. For some reason my school didn't have bus'.

You know those movies where someone walks onto the bus and it gets quiet and people start whispering and pointing, and what empty seats there are people place bags or say "This seat is taken." So the girl won't sit by them? That was what happened every time I boarded a bus. I walked all the way to the back and sat down by the window, placed my chin on my hand and rested my forehead on the cold window, watching people and buildings whiz by.

The bus lurched to a halt at a stop just a little ways away from my high school. I stood, grabbed my bag, and exited the bus. Walking up to my school everyone was laughing with their groups of friends. Some guys were chasing girls around the campus. I opened the school doors and began walking to my first class with my head down and staying out of everyone else's way.

"Max! Max!" It wasn't very often someone talked to me so when three girls that I don't know the name of started to talk to me I stopped and listened. I looked up at them, a bleek expression on my face. They stopped calling my name and formed a half circle around me. Two of the girls had short brown hair and the third, the one doing all the talking, had long dirty blonde hair in pig tails. "How many years have you been single?" The girl asked with a smirk.

I didn't answer. My face didn't change but what she had said struck a nerve. Instead of answering her I walked passed her and her posse. They all laughed as I walked past them. "She ignored us!"

"Well you can't ask rude questions like that." One of her friends said. Still, even when she said that I knew she wasn't on my side. The same girl said "Well its obviously been seventeen years. Lame!" Their laughs faded as I got farther and farther away from them.

'I haven't had a friend, let alone a boyfriend for seventeen years. And I plan to keep beating my record. I've been in a few groups who called themselves my friends. But I realized something. When I have so-called friends, I only get hurt. I don't need them.' I thought as I unpacked my books for this class and set them on my desk.

~? POV~

"Man, I can't believe what happened yesterday." Iggy, my best friend, said. We walked down the stairs to go to our first class. What I can't figure out is that if this school is a few stories tall then how can they not afford buses? "I get wind Parkersville is full of cute chicks, so I was super excited to check them out, but they all go for _you!" _He continued talking about the girls from a sister school as we walked down the hall. Yes... my best friend is the world biggest pervert. "Did they?" I ask raising an eyebrow. If they had I didn't notice. They all seemed to be acting normal. All we did was talk. He gave me a slightly annoyed look. "Don't act all oblivious. Even the cutest one had the hots for you. Don't underestimate my vision." He said pouting.

I chuckled. "Sorry man." I said smiling. "So? Did you get her number?!" He began to get almost as excited as he did last night when I told he we were going to meet up with the girls. "I gave him a sideways look. "Nope!" I said popping the 'p'. Iggy ran in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. I gave him a confused look before he continued on. "What? How? Why?!" He yelled throwing his arms up in the air. Once he was done with his little tantrum I walked around him and he followed. "It's not like had to." I put a hand on the strap of my backpack, holding it off my shoulder.

Iggy crossed his arms and 'tsked' me. "Dude, she so wanted you to ask for her number. What a waste" I tried to remember what she was doing last night but she didn't seen like she was interested. "You think so? She looked just like the other girls to me." Iggy stopped and glared at me. Imsure if I could see my face I'd look like a deer in headlights. "The school's most popular guy really is different from the rest of us. The school admires you,the universally kind, Fang Ride." He stated. I smirked at him. "Do I detect sarcasm?"

"Don't tell me _all _girls look the same to you." I chuckled again at his remark. "No! Of course not. But they're all equal in my eyes."

"Fang!" Iggy turned quickly to face the familiar voice, his cheeks getting a little brighter. I turned a little slower then he. Just as I though Ella, Iggy's crush was running down the hall towards us, her arm above her head, waving. "Good morning." Iggy walked forward a few steps and opened his arms to hug Ella. "Ella!" He yelled. Instead of hugging him she ran past him and hugged me. I felt a little bad for Iggy, Ella never seemed to notice he liked her, no matter how hard he tried. "Where were you last night? I called, but you never answered." She asked with her arms still around me. I pushed her off a little when I saw Iggy still standing there, arms still open, mouth slightly open, eyes closed, and an eyebrow twitching in annoyance. " I went to dinner with some Parkersvile girls."

Ella took her arms off from around me. I sighed slightly in relief. Yeah, sure Ella is a beautiful girl but I didn't like her that way, and besides Iggy has liked her since freshman year. "You should have invited me." She puckered out her bottom lip like a small child. "Sorry. I promise will next time." I began to feel bad because I hurt Ella's feelings. I hated it when I hurt peoples feelings or when I saw people we sad.

Ella's face lit up and her eyes brightened. "Really?! You mean it? We should all got to karaoke together sometime, too." I gave her a small smile. "Sure." She smiled and ran off down the hall. "See ya!" She called over her shoulder. I turned back around and Iggy was stillstanding in the same position from five minutes ago. "What are you doing?"

Iggy didn't turn around when he answered. "Are you trying to take Ella from me, too?" I noticed his fists were clenched at his sides. I raised my eyebrows. "What?" I was confused by this point. He knew I didn't like her didn't he? Ella doesn't even like me like that. He turned around quickly which made me jump slightly. "Ella's seriously everything I look forward to in this school! Especially that she is extremely cute." I gave him a pointed look. "Is that all you look for in a girl?" His hands flew over his head. "No! Absolutely not! She's more than cute! Ella is..." He was cut short when he ran into someone when he was walking backwards. "Whoops. Sorry. Sorry." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. I looked past him and a girl was on her knees on the ground with her back turned to us. She turned just her head and glared at both of us. Im not going to lie she was pretty intimidating, but at the same time she seem quite... fascinating? Was that the word? Iggy nervously bit his lip. "Hey, it was an accident,all right?" She turned back, facing her back to us and walked off without saying a word to Iggy in return.

"She's such a weirdo." He mumbled once she was far enough away so she couldn't hear. MY eyes were still locked onto her retreating form when I asked, "Who is she?" Iggy tilted his head. "You don't know?" I shook my head slightly. "That's Maximum Walker. She's in one of my classes. She's always like that. She never talks. I bet no one's ever heard her voice. I don't know what her problem is. She's not my type anyways. Hmm..." I wasn't really listening at that point. I seemed to be put into a trance be her. She didn't seem weird. She was beautiful. Even with her hair in a braid it came down to the middle of her back. She was dressed so casually it was beautiful. I smiled to myself. 'She's kind of... Interesting."

When school was just getting out Iggy and I were being followed by a few girls. "Ugh! Whats the point of school anyways? We aren't going to use half the stuff we learn anyways..." As we rounded the corner to the stair Iggy perked up when he saw a girl walking up the stairs holding the bottom of her skirt, and being the weirdo that he is yells, "You girls are looking scandalous!" They stopped to look back at him. He jogged up the stairs two at a time to catch up to them. "Hey! Go away!" "You're such a perv!" They both yelled at him. "If you wanna hide them, don't have your skirts so short." I did have to agree with him there. I watched as he argued back and forth with the two girls until i got tired of it. "Hey now, don't be a jerk Igtard." He laughed it off and said, "I'm giving them advice!" He turned back to the two girls who had their arms crossed and clearly not amused. "It's even hotter when you try to hide 'em. You'll give guys the wrong idea and make them think you want it."

"You're the only pervert here!" One yelled. "You sound like an old man!" The other yelled. One of the girls started to talk to me about the dinner we went to last night so I didn't notice when Iggy set his attention to another girl. "You don't see skinny jeans in this school very often. That's pretty scandalous, too." I was just now seeing what he was doing when he said, "Lets see who's wearing them." He went behind the girl and grabbed the belt loop of her jeans. The girl stopped abruptly with a quiet gasp. I then recognized her as the girl from earlier, Maximum. His shoulders sagged. "Huh?Oh, it's you." I moved next to Iggy. Max still had't moved. "Oi, Iggy, what are you doing?" Max began to back up. She grabbed the railing of the stairs. And everything went in slow-mo from there on. She turned her body, her eyes weren't full of anger but embarrassment. Her foot came off the ground and swung into the air. I only had a second to move my hand so she would hit my hand and not my face. She kicked me. She _reverse roundhouse_ kicked me. I fell backwards off the stairs from surprise.

My bottom hit the ground and I skidded back and my back hit a wall. The girls from earlier began to scream. "Fang? Fang are you okay!?" But I didn't pay attention to them, I just stared at her, dumbfounded. She turned to face me where she was up a few steps of stairs. My eyes were wide and they somehow went wider when she spoke. "Everyone always says it's "an accident"... So why does it keep happening?! Leave me alone you asshole! I hope you die!" Her voice was beautiful. It was smooth. I found myself wanting to hear more of it. "She's so mean." "What a weirdo." "Iggy's the one who did it. Why'd she kick Fang?" The girls kept throwing insults at her. "Fang? Are you okay?" One of them asked.

Instead of answering I busted out laughing. It's been a while I've laughed the hard. It was a genuine laugh for once, not forced. I found the whole situation funny. They all looked at me like I was crazy. "Did you hit your head?" Iggy asked. I stopped laughing and smiled. 'Maximum Walker. Who are you?'


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm really sorry it took me this long to update! I really am, but i am focusing on school right now and everything else (Except my horses) come second, so I don't really have a schedule for updating. Oh! And yes! A few of you did guess what this was based off of. It is based of an anime called ****_Say "I Love You." _****I am going to try and make it different but the anime is so cute and I love turning it into a Fax type thing :p**

* * *

><p>~Max~<p>

It seemed like everywhere I went the whispers followed. They followed me through the long and dreadful hallways towards my locker. I don't know how the entire school had figured out about the whole scene between Fang and I within twenty minutes, but then again nothing in a high school really makes sense. I tried to ignore the cruel words and hurtful stares but it was hard not to notice. The word that always seemed to pop into the same sentence as my name was 'freak'. They threw the word around without knowing its true definition.

As I rounded the last corner to my locker I couldn't help the wave of relief that washed over me like a tsunami. Walking up to my locker I could see people took the time to write me lovely notes. Notice the sarcasm? I tore them off my locker and tossed them onto the floor. My hands entered the combination into the cold, metal, lock. I pulled it open with a slight tug. In the same moment small silver objects fell out and scattered onto the floor. Push pins, that was new. Upon closer inspection I noticed a folded piece of paper. Curiosity fueling me to open and read the note.

_"Why would you do that to Fang? He did nothing wrong. Apologize, bitch!"_

I read it quietly out loud. I scoffed, crumpling the paper and tossing it behind my back. No way in hell was I going to apologize to him.

"Hey." A strong, velvet like, voice traveled to my ears. Turning I saw it was Fang. He was waving, showing off a nasty bruise on his right palm. That had been the had he used to block his face, hadn't it? A strange feeling traveled through me. Guilt. I felt guilty.

"I'm sorry." He finally said after a few seconds of awkward silence and me just staring at him. Shocked, that an insult hadn't left his mouth, I tilted my head to the side a fraction of an inch.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"I'm sorry. It was m friend, Iggy, who upset you. He's a pervert, yes, but he doesn't mean any harm." His voice sounded sincere. My eyes traveled to his enchanting onyx eyes. Somewhere in his eyes you could almost _see _how sincere his apology was.

"I-I'm sorry too... About your hand..." I mumbled, swallowing my pride, turning my face away from him so he couldn't see the blush that rose to my cheeks. He began to laugh, almost doubling over.

"I can't believe you roundhouse kicked me! Out of no where!" His laughs subsided when he noticed that I was now glaring at him. "I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. I thought it was cool. I think you're fun."

This time it was my turn to laugh. I laughed darkly.

"What? Fun to mess with? To tease?" He looked almost taken back by my harsh words. He shook his head.

"No. I mean fun. Fun to be around. I think it'd be fun to get to know you." My heart fluttered at the thought of having a friend. '_No.' _I told myself. _'You don't need friends.' _

"I don't need friends. But thanks for the offer." I said sarcastically. I took one last look at his mesmerizing eyes, hurt flashed through them before it was quickly covered up. I turned and walked away, shifting my backpack onto my other shoulder.

* * *

><p>Sitting on the ground I watched the stray puppy eat the food I had provided him. His small mouth gobbled up the kibble I had given to him in a bowl. Nobody knew that this little pup and his mother lived in the woods right behind the school. A few times every week I would check on them. I smiled when the hungry pup turned playful when I started to stroke him. He rolled onto his back, paws in the air reaching for my hand, and let out a pathetic growl that was to cute not to love. I rubbed his stomach.<p>

"That's enough for today bud." I picked up the bowl of food. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, wanting more. "You'll get sick if you eat anymore!"

A small bark sounded from within the woods. He gave me a small 'yip' before he turned and ran as gracefully as he could with his awkward puppy body, and ran to his mother. I didn't have a name for him, and I most likely never will. If I name him I might get to attached. Until I knew he and his mom had a home I wouldn't name him.

* * *

><p>As I walked down the sidewalk I found an interest in my shoes, so I didn't notice when Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious started to walk beside me.<p>

"Yo." He said, catching my attention. I looked up at him, slightly surprised.

"What is it?" I mumbled, just wanting him to leave me alone.

"Lets trade." He said. He shoved his hand into his pocket, looking for what I assumed was his phone. He pulled it out and pushed it towards me. I looked down to his black phone and back up to him. I shrugged.

"I don't want to." I stated, trying to get him to go away.

"Fine. If you won't give me yours... at least take this." He handed me a small piece of paper with what I assumed to be his number on it. It was written in that so-sloppy-its-neat kind of way boys write. I accepted his offer and put it into my pocket. "Is that it?" I asked, faking being annoyed. He nodded and I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away from him for the third time today.

"Thank you Maximum!" He hollered from behind me. My breath hitched. He actually said my name... I stopped, a smirk painted across my face. I turned my head over my shoulder.

"Call me Max!" I yelled back at him. I could she the faintest smile growing across his lips before I ran the rest of the way to my house.

* * *

><p><strong>Whale... There it is. I've seen so many fanfics where Max s the happy and go-getty one and Fang is the whole calm and collected type of guy, which he is... IN THE BOOK, but this is not the book so I am changing that around ^~^<strong>

**QOTC (Question of The Chapter): Whats your favorite book series (besides MR)**

**AOTC: Hush, Hush definitely! R&R please XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry it took so long to update! My computer charger was broken and I just now got one so I'm gonna update for you guys. As always reviews are greatly appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or Say "I Love You"**

The bell above the door rang, alerting me that a customer had entered the store. I couldn't see the door from where I sat behind the register but I heard the familiar sound of a basket being picked up. I turned to look out the window next to the register. Cars whizzed by, probably people going to or coming home from work.

Its Saturday, the normal day for my shift. At the moment its 8:45 p.m, my shift ends at nine o'clock. I work at a small bakery and coffee shop around town called The Flock. Its an okay size and had a somewhat cozy feeling to it. The lights were dimmed slightly and the walls were painted a sky blue and creme color. There was a corner that held a small brown leather couch and two brown leather recliners along with a small glass table. When the costumer walked around the corner I could see now that it was a man, maybe in his early twenties. Shaggy chestnut hair hung in his sea green eyes, his skin was tanned to perfection. all in all he was good boyfriend material, but there was something... odd about him. As he approached the register the hair on the back of my neck stood. My hand dove into the pocket of my jeans searching for my phone, just in case. He comes in almost every shift I work.

"Maximum." I jumped when he said my name. I began to panic, 'How did he know my name?! Is he stalking me?' thought to myself. Then I looked down. My name tag. Gosh, I'm smart. I mentally face palmed and began to add his total up, which wasn't much considering he only bought a doughnut.

"Your total is 1.75." He pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to me. As I was giving him his change I could help but notice the way he looked at me, like I was a platter of chocolate chip cookies. I held my breath as he exited the store with a devilish smirk growing on his face. I let out the breath i didn't know I was holding when the bell above the door rang a second time.

The rest of my shift was uneventful. I went to the back and took off the apron I was wearing and hung it up, I also took my hair out of its pony tail and ran my hands through it a few times. I walked through the store and turned off all the lights and turned the 'Open' sign around so it said 'Sorry We're Closed'. On my way out I made sure I locked the door.

The sun was now replaced by the moon and the clouds with the stars. The sky was beautiful today, it wasn't necessarily black but millions of shades of dark blue all mixed together making it seem black. I tried to find a few constellations before I started walking home. My house was about a ten minute walk from the store so it didn't bother me that much. I liked walking home alone, it gave me time to think.

The sound of light footsteps behind me took my attention away from my thoughts. I listened more intently. They sounded liked they were only about ten feet behind me. It was weird for anyone to be walking out her this late at night, there was nothing but a convenient store a few minutes down the road. Worried, I quickened my pace and heard the person behind me quicken theirs as well. I looked behind me from the corner of my eye and almost gasped. It was the man from before. 'He probably walks the same way as you, calm down.' I told myself but I didn't believe it. Now that I think about it he was standing on the corner opposite from the store when I closed up, just... Standing there.

I broke into a light jog when I rounded the corner, he was still following me. When the convenient store was in sight I sprinted the rest of the way ad dashed inside and to the back of the store. Instead of following me inside he stood outside o the other side of the street. I'd hoped he would give up but still after ten minutes he was still waiting for me to come outside.

I went over my options in my head, I could try to make it back home, which was only about a ten minute walk and risk finding out _why_ he was following me, or I could call my mom and ask her to pick me up. I settled on the latter.

Reaching into my back pocket and went to my contacts, my mom being the only one besides family that were out of state. The phone rang four times before going to voice mail. I hung up, muttered a few choice words and tried again. Still no answer. Weren't theses the times parents were supposed to be there for their kids?! Giving up, I put my phone back in pocket until I felt something at the bottom of my pocket. I fished it out and opened the crumpled piece of paper. The ink had faded from being in the wash but it was still legible. The paper read:

_ ** Fang **_

_765-0321_

I sighed in relief and held the piece of paper to my heart. It had been pure luck that his number was in my pocket, had I picked a different pair of jeans... well... you get the idea. I frantically dialed Fang's number, praying to any god there was that he'd pick up. On the second ring he picked up.

"Hello, who is this?" I could hear some music in the background, making it difficult to hear him. I never thought I'd be this happy hearing his voice, but I was. I let go of the air I'd been holding.

"Fang... It's me, Max. I-I need your help." I stuttered, looking out the window to see the mysterious man was still standing out side. Yup, definitely following me. Immediately the music was turned down.

"Max? Whats wrong?" Concern laced throughout his words.

"Can you come get me? I'm at the convenient store near The Flock." I heard commotion on the other end and something that sounded like a car door slamming.

He didn't ask questions, which I was glad. "I'm on my way, sit tight." He ended the call. I began to pace around the back of the store. What felt like hours passed before Fang flew the doors open. His eyes scanned the store before the landed on me. He walked over to me. Concern and curiosity whirled through his eyes. He placed his hands on my upper arms and knelt down to my eye level.

"Max. Tell me whats wrong." I pointed out the window toward the man out side.

"That man. He comes n the shop during my shift often. He started following me after work so I came in here."

His gaze turned toward the man outside. His facial expressions changed in an instant, he went from concerned to I don't know what but it was scary. "How long have you been in here?" He asked calmly.

"About twenty minutes." I mumbled. His eyes widened. "He really is stalking you..." He ran his hand through his hair and turned back towards me.

"I didn't call you to tell me what I already knew!" I yelled at him. "What am I supposed to do?" He reached down and grabbed my hand. "Common." He started dragging me towards the door. When he pushed the door open the man put his phone in his pocket and walked towards us. As he got closer Fang turned to face me.

"Max... I love you." The man stopped his walking and I stopped my breathing. "What ar-" He cut my off when he crashed his lips onto my. His hand snaked around to the bottom of my back and tilted his head. 'Oh, now I see what he was doing.' I thought to myself. I played along and closed my eyes and kissed him back, caressing his cheek. He pulled away and I couldn't help the slight blush that rose to my cheeks.

"Are you two dating?" Fang shot him a glare and if looks could kill, that guy would be six feet under. "Never mind..." He mumbled and walked away.

"That was nice acting but don't you think you should have asked me first?!" I asked, and at him. I covered my embarrassment with anger and poked him in his chest every few words. I expected him to back down and say he was sorry.

Confusion spread across his face before his mask fell back into place. "What do you mean?! I just saved your ass from some creepy stalker! Next time you can deal with it on your own! I don't see what the big deal is any- oh... That was your first kiss wasn't it? I'm sorry, I didn't know but that was he only way he would have left you alone."

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed in annoyance. "Well in case you haven't noticed guys aren't exactly lining up." I said sarcastically.

"They should be..." He mumbled looking me in the eyes.

"W-What?" I asked. Had I heard him right?

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I said they should be." He said louder this time. I noticed how his cheeks turned a light shade of red and felt heat rising in my cheeks as well. Before I could utter a word he pulled his phone out and smirked.

"Does this mean I can call you when I need you?" He asked.

I laughed. "No! Of course not! You don't even have my number!"

He chuckled. "See that's where you're wrong Maxi. Your number is in my call history." I muttered a few choice words and shook my head. He smiled triumphantly, and I have to say, a smile looked handsome on him. He began walking towards his black car. "Common, I'll take you home." I reluctantly got in his car and told him the directions.

The car ride was short but we made conversation about nothing and everything. When he stopped outside of my house I felt slightly disappointed. I knew I had to leave but I didn't want to leave his side. 'What?! What are you thinking Max?!' i yelled in my head. I shook the thought of my head. I opened the door and got out. Before I closed the door I went back into the car and kissed Fang on his cheek.

"Thank you... For everything." I ran to my front door before he could say anything back.


End file.
